Adapters are already known in the prior art, and the type of the present invention is where there is an adapter driving body which has a slidable collar thereon for quickly securing and releasing a rotary tool in the adapter. Those prior art adapters include the central and elongated driving body which has the sliding collar telescoped thereover and wherein the sliding collar engages a ball which moves radially relative to the collar sliding movement and is thus pressed downward onto the tool for holding the tool in the adapter. A spring is commonly used in that type of adapter, and the spring presses the collar which has a conical interior for pressing radially onto the ball in the tool securing action.
Those prior art adapters also include a pin and slot combination wherein the collar moves axially of the inner driver body for the action of having the collar conical interior slide over the ball for securing the tool and for sliding away from the ball for releasing the tool. The alignment or orientation of that type of prior art slot is commonly parallel to the longitudinal axis of the body and of the coaxially aligned collar itself. That is, the collar slides along the body with a spring pressing the collar in the securing direction and with the operator manually sliding the collar along the body in the direction against the spring for releasing the tool. Even further, the prior art also has the pin and slot combination of the type mentioned and with a branch of the slot disposed at a right angle relative to the longitudinal axis mentioned. In that type of arrangement which is similar to a bayonet pin and slot arrangement, the collar can be axially moved for securing the tool, and the collar can then be rotated into the right-angled branch slot for holding the collar in the secured position.
The present invention improves upon the prior art by having a slot which is disposed at an acute angle relative to the driver longitudinal axis and, as such, the collar is rotated to have the pin move relative to the acutely disposed slot and thereby have the collar move simultaneously in both the axial and rotational directions, all to thereby completely secure the tool in the driver.
That is, upon rotation of the collar on the adapter body, the collar conical surface is advanced toward the ball for further pressing on the ball and thereby further secure the tool in a manner beyond that heretofore achieved.
Still further, the branch slot utilized herein has a notch disposed thereon and the notch receives the pin in a preferred locked position of the pin in the notch, and thus the pin is actually in the slot notch, and a specific maneuver by the operator is required to release the pin from the notch and then rotate the collar to move the collar conical surface away from the ball, all for release of the tool. As such, the tool is securely and also positively and safely held by the adapter and there is no tendency for an inadvertent release of the tool relative to the driver.
Still further, the tool itself is arranged with a conical surface disposed with an orientation in a direction opposite that of the orientation direction for the collar conical surface, and thus, upon securement of the tool, the ball is moved into complete and tight holding relationship with the tool conical surface.
The invention also includes the method for achieving the aforementioned results of the secure holding of the tool and for locking the tool in its position to be driven.